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Listed under:  History  >  World history  >  Aboriginal history
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Four Corners: African Americans demand change, 1968

Imagine that, like many African Americans growing up before the sweeping changes in America in the 1960s, you cannot eat alongside white people, go to white schools, or even ride in the same part of a public bus, even though slavery was abolished more than a century before. This 1968 clip explores the experience of Mae ...

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Weekend Magazine: US race riots, 1968

Imagine a country arming its police force with tanks, heavy weapons and chemicals to combat its own people. This extract shows the escalation of violence and the results of racism in the USA in 1968. Army, police and fire units are shown practising new riot control activities in preparation for expected violent demonstrations ...

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Four Corners: Defending civil rights: an activist's perspective, 1968

What happens when the members of a society feel like they have no hope? This is the situation faced by members of Harlem's African American community in 1968, who find themselves in a cycle of poverty. Civil rights activists like Al Cook offer a solution to the problem: fight back.

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Calls for recognition of Indigenous Australians

Discover why many Australians believe the time has come to change the Australian Constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories. This program from January 2012 examines the debate about how this change might be achieved. It looks at the growing call for our constitution to recognise and advance ...

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Four Corners: Native title begins with an act of recognition

Following the recognition of native title by the High Court of Australia in June 1992, the establishment of a process for ensuring that it was awarded fairly and responsibly was needed. This process came to be enshrined in the Native Title Act of 1993. Listen as key players in the development of the Act explain its importance. ...

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Life As a Female Convict: Cascades Female Factory

The Cascades Female Factory was both a prison and a factory for female convicts in early Hobart. It was a place where convict women were forced to undertake labour in slave-like conditions to support the fledgling colony. Learn what life at the Female Factory was like for the inmates. What sort of work did the women do? ...

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ABC Open: Aunty Dorrie and the 'dog licence'

Have you ever heard of the 'dog licence'? This was a Certificate of Exemption, issued by the Aboriginal Welfare Board, that allowed Indigenous Australians to live as part of white Australian society. In order to get one of these, Aboriginal people effectively had to renounce their culture and prove that they were 'respectable'. ...

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Counted: Being an Aboriginal student in the 1960s

Listen to Stan Grant Snr, Marcia Langton and Sol Bellear as they share their school experiences. How would you describe what they experienced? How do their memories make you feel? Why do you think these things happened to them? And what effect do you think their experiences would have had on them?

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Four Corners: Native title: 200 years in the making

What do you know about the struggle for native title in Australia? On 3 June 1992 the High Court of Australia handed down a landmark ruling that acknowledged that the Meriam people of the Torres Strait had the right to hold native title over their islands (Murray, or Mer, Dauar and Waier). Find out more about this critical ...

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Trees and connection

Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man Bruce Pascoe explains his connection to Country and introduces us to a family of trees. In what ways does Bruce’s relationship with the Earth differ from yours?

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Stateline TAS: Aunty Ida West: Tasmanian Aboriginal Elder, 1995

Imagine being told not to speak your own language to your family and friends. Even worse, imagine being told that your whole culture had vanished, when you know it has not. These challenges were faced by Aboriginal people in the 20th century. In this clip, discover how Aunty Ida West's background and life experiences forged ...

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Journey into Japan: Modernising Japan in the Meiji era

The restoration of Emperor Meiji in 1868 ushered in a period of rapid change in Japan. The country not only borrowed practices and technologies from Western countries, in less than forty years it too had become an imperialist power. This clip is fifth in a series of six.

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BTN: Nuclear tests at Maralinga

Can you imagine nuclear bombs being exploded in Australia, over your home? Between 1953 and 1963, the Australian Government led by Robert Menzies allowed Britain to test nuclear bombs in the open air at sites in Australia. These sites included Maralinga in South Australia. It was the land of the Maralinga Tjarutja people ...

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Four Corners: Adoption of Indigenous Australian children

Imagine being taken away from your family and forced to live with people from another language, place and culture. This interview, recorded a week before the 1967 Referendum, captures an the perspective of Margaret Valadian, a prominent young Aboriginal Australian, on the practice of adoption and the removal of Aboriginal ...

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Why Australia wanted a White Australia policy

The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was designed to limit non-British immigration to Australia. It came to be known as the White Australia policy. In some quarters, people of non-British (and especially non-European) heritage were regarded as being inferior, greedy or unable to fit in with dominant Australian society. ...

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Four Corners: Forms of protest

Imagine the internal conflict for an African American policeman in 1968 New York. Against a background of race riots stimulated by racial inequality, African American policeman Chief-Inspector Frederick Waithe must convince African Americans to act within the law. At the same time he sympathises with their grievances.

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First Tuesday Book Club: Navigating 'The Secret River'

Kate Grenville's multiple-award-winning novel 'The Secret River' explores an earlier period of Australian history. What is it that makes this novel so compelling and troubling for its many Australian readers? As you watch this clip, consider how this book encourages readers to re-evaluate their beliefs and values.

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Counted: Australian culture in the 1960s

What was Australia like in the 1960s? Why does reporter Stan Grant say that "change is coming" at this time, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? Choose one of the people mentioned in this video and do some research into their sporting, artistic or political achievements.

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Counted: A new referendum

Today people are campaigning to hold a referendum that seeks to fully recognise Indigenous people in the Constitution. Why does Marcia Langton believe this is a crucial thing to do? What do you think? What makes Stan Grant Snr angry about the prospect of holding another referendum?

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BTN: Aboriginal astronomy

Many ancient cultures studied the night sky, and we know this because it is reflected in some of the earliest stories we have on record. Learn about one of these stories in this video. Other than the Dreamtime stories, what other evidence might there be that the Aboriginal people studied the stars?